‘Get out of the bathroom!’ Luna yelled the next morning. ‘Sehun!’

Sehun pulled open his bedroom door, blinking against the bright morning sunshine, to see his sister waiting near the bathroom at the end of the hallway, yawning. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and she wore her baggy Paul Frank pyjamas with monkeys on them. ‘I’m not in there,’ he called to her.

Luna glanced at him and frowned in confusion.

‘It must be Baekhyun,’ he said.

Luna’s eyes widened in horror and her hand flew to her hair. Without a word, she turned and ran back into her own room, slamming the door behind her.

Sehun chuckled. His sister was not a morning person – in her tired haze, she’d obviously forgotten Baekhyun was even there. He figured she’d be perfectly made up, washed and blow-dried by the time she made another appearance.

Baekhyun stuck his head out of the bathroom door. ‘You need to get in here?’ he asked Sehun.

Sehun stared at his friend. The guy looked seriously pale, with deep circles under his eyes. ‘Nah, I can wait,’ he said. Baekhyun nodded and disappeared back into the bathroom.

Shaking his head, Sehun retreated into his bedroom. Whatever was going on with Baekhyun, a good night’s sleep hadn’t solved it. The dude still looked like crap.

But by breakfast time, Baekhyun seemed to have rebounded. He was busy helping Mrs Oh mix pancake batter when Sehun came into the kitchen.

‘… and Mr Ruck tripped and knocked over the whole podium,’ he was saying.

Sehun’s mom dissolved into laughter. ‘I always hated that guy,’ she remarked. ‘Ever since we were on the same PTA committee when you and Sehun were in third grade.’

‘Morning,’ Sehun said, heading to the fridge for some o.j.

‘Happy Thanksgiving,’ his mom replied. She grabbed his arm as he passed her and spun him away from the refrigerator. ‘We’re all sitting down to eat together this morning. I don’t want you doing your typical orange juice and banana on the run.’

‘She’s showing off for Aunt Boa. I’m even supposed to put out the good coffee cups,’ Luna said from the dining room, where she was setting the table.

As Sehun had expected, she was fully dressed and looking perfect.

‘I am not showing off,’ Mrs Oh said, handing Sehun a basket full of muffins and pointing to the table.

He dutifully carried the muffins over and set them down. ‘Yes she is,’ he murmured to Luna.

‘Totally.’ Luna laughed.

‘Your Aunt Boa is here?’ Baekhyun asked from the counter. ‘How come I didn’t see her last night?’

‘She had to go into the office for some last-minute thing,’ Mrs Oh replied. ‘She didn’t get back until almost midnight.’

‘Weird,’ Sehun said. ‘Doesn’t everyone try to cut out early the day before Thanksgiving?’

‘Not in her job,’ Luna put in. ‘Dealing with all those high-powered, demanding Hollywood peeps.’

‘My ears are burning,’ Boa said, appearing in the kitchen. ‘Are you talking about me behind my back?’

‘Only good things,’ Sehun assured her. ‘I think Luna wants to have your job after college.’

‘Oh, I hope not,’ Mrs Oh said. Aunt Boa gave her an arch look, and Mrs Oh shrugged. ‘No offense, Boa, but wrangling celebs isn’t exactly-’

‘Boring?’ Luna interrupted. ‘I’d love to be a star-creator like Aunt Boa. With one place in New York and another in California. Travelling all over.’ She sat down at the table and grabbed a muffin.

‘That’s my girl.’ Aunt Boa laughed. ‘Be adventurous.’

‘Do you have a place out here in California?’ Baekhyun asked, coming to sit down next to Luna.

‘I don’t, actually, Boa replied. ‘My late husband had a home in Malibu, but I sold it after he died. It made me sad to be there.’

Baekhyun nodded sympathetically. ‘That’s tough.’

‘Besides, I don’t need a place here anymore. I can always stay with my big sis,’ Boa said grinning at Mrs Oh. ‘And if she gets sick of me, my company will put me up in one of the hotels.’

‘I’d take the Beverly Hilton over our house any day,’ Luna commented.

‘Me, too, if somebody else is paying,’ Sehun’s dad called from the stairway. ‘Did I miss breakfast?’

‘Nope. The pancakes are ready, so everybody sit,’ Mrs Oh replied.

Sehun and his father sat across from Luna and Baekhyun, and his mom and aunt took the ends. Looking back and forth between them, Sehun was surprised at how different the two women were. Somehow he’d never noticed it before. It was more than just their looks, though Boa’s brown hair was nothing like his mother’s short bob. It was their different attitudes to life that was most striking. His mom was, well, a mom – in a good way, of course. But Boa always acted like she was still just a kid herself. Well, she is a bit younger than Mom, Sehun thought.

He took a look at Boa’s sweater and jean ensemble. The outfit would’ve looked normal on his mother, but on Boa it seemed uber-stylish. He suddenly remembered what Yuri had said about his aunt and her sense of fashion.

‘Hey, Aunt Boa, do you know Kwon Yuri?’ he asked her suddenly.

She looked at him in surprise. So did Luna and Baekhyun.

‘Who’s Kwon Yuri?’ Baekhyun asked. Luna just widened her eyes in her usual, gossip-detecting way.

‘A girl at school,’ Sehun said, aware of the blush slowly creeping across his cheeks. He cleared his throat. ‘My friend Luhan’s girlfriend.’

‘Hmm… The name sounds familiar,’ Aunt Boa said. ‘Yoochun knew the Kwons, of course. I probably met her once or twice. Why do you ask?’

‘Just wondering,’ Sehun said. ‘She mentioned that she’d met you. Said she likes the way you dress.’

‘Oh, well, in that case I love her already,’ Boa joked.

‘Sehun does too,’ Luna teased. Sehun tossed a muffin at her.

‘So, Baekhyun, how long are you staying?’ Aunt Boa asked. ‘Do you have to be back at school on Monday?’

Baekhyun kept his eyes on the pancakes he was smothering with syrup. ‘Uh… technically. But I can skip a day or two. I’m a senior.’

‘When did that become an excuse for cutting class?’ Mr Oh asked.

Baekhyun finally looked up, and Sehun thought he saw a hint of annoyance in his friend’s eyes. But it disappeared immediately, and Baekhyun grinned. ‘All I mean is that they’re giving SAT practice tests next week, and I already took the SATs, so I don’t need to go.’

‘Sweet deal,’ Sehun said. Although when he was at their old school, they certainly hadn’t spent days giving SAT practice tests. Had things changed that much?

But as his family continued to chat with his old friend, Sehun kept his thoughts to himself. Baekhyun had always been a favourite with the Ohs. Sehun hadn’t told his parents about the driving-while-stoned episode form last year. He hadn’t told Luna, either.

All that was in the past. Sehun planned to leave it there.

‘Luna Who Smells, why aren’t you up here playing?’ Baekhyun called a few hours later. ‘Sehun’s too much of a lightweight to be any fun. Look at him all panting and stuff.’

Sehun shook his head. They’d only been shooting hoops for fifteen minutes and he wasn’t even out of breath. Neither was Baekhyun, which was a little weird. The guy looked so exhausted this morning that Sehun had figured they were in for a day of sitting in front of the TV while his mom puttered around getting everything ready for the big dinner. But Baekhyun had obviously got a second wind.

‘I’d rather lounge,’ Luna answered from her chaise next to the pool. She’d decked herself out in a bikini and a pair of big Jackie O sunglasses. ‘Besides, isn’t it called one-on-one?’

‘Well, yeah, if you’re going to get all literal on me,’ Baekhyun grumbled good-naturedly.

Luna turned back to her book, some chick-lit thing with a drawing of a woman in a leopard-print dress on the front.

‘You’re just trying to distract me from kicking your ,’ Sehun said. ‘It won’t work.’

‘We’ll see.’ Baekhyun dribbled the ball toward the hoop mounted on the pool-house wall, ducking and sprinting to avoid Sehun’s coverage. He took a shot – and scored nothing but net. Baekhyun did a little victory dance, getting in Sehun’s face.

‘I’m still winning, jackass,’ Sehun pointed out.

Baekhyun laughed and passed the ball to Sehun.

*Note – More of Baekhyun~ what do you guys think about his character? Sehun thinks and notices a lot of things… is he being shady or depressed or something? What you guys think? ^_^